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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26672194">FitzSimmons Family Bonding</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Highclasstrash/pseuds/Highclasstrash'>Highclasstrash</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tumblr Prompts by Highclasstrashposts [15]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Family Bonding, Family Feels, Gen, Hydra (Marvel), Implied/Referenced Torture, Protective Jemma Simmons, Protective Leo Fitz, Teenage Deke Shaw, and you cant tell me otherwise, deke and daisy are best friends, fitzsimmons family, no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:55:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,098</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26672194</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Highclasstrash/pseuds/Highclasstrash</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>jaunevaleska on tumblr prompted:  "\\not sure if I'm sending a prompt right. Maybe more of teenage Deke? Like he ends up in HYDRAs hands? Being psyched out and held hostage by Ruby Hale? Or director Deke unintentionally or purposely saving Ruby from life as a weapon. Raising that version and eventually telling the team about it?"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Deke Shaw &amp; Jemma Simmons, Deke Shaw &amp; Skye | Daisy Johnson, Leo Fitz &amp; Deke Shaw, Leo Fitz &amp; Deke Shaw &amp; Jemma Simmons, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tumblr Prompts by Highclasstrashposts [15]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1774090</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>FitzSimmons Family Bonding</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Deke, watch their back.  That's an order."  Daisy Johnson said.</p><p>Deke Shaw did not follow the order.  He circled back once he got the others to the Zephyr.  </p><p>When he saw the fight he was glad he did.  The blonde girl who couldn't be older than Deke, around seventeen, was wielding a chakram and trying her hardest to hit Daisy.  Deke watched quietly, waiting for an opportunity to help.  </p><p>He found that opportunity when the girl cut Daisys hand mid-quake and went in to do something more fatal.</p><p>Deke started running for the two, taking his belt buckle off and shoving it into the girls back, he turned it on.  The girl started floating, yelling unsteadily.  Deke turned the belt buckle once more, and she went flying into a tree.</p><p>"Aren't you glad I made another one of those?"</p><p>"Deke!"  Daisy said, slightly out of breath.  "What the hell?  I told you to go back to the Zephyr!"</p><p>Deke rolled his eyes.  "What about a thank you?"</p><p>"What did you even do to her?"  Daisy pointed to the girl Dekes age.</p><p>"Relax, it's just gravity."  Deke pointed to the belt buckle.  "I wear gravitonium on my belt, I know how to use it safely."</p><p>Daisy pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.  "Fine, fine."  She took a step toward the girl.  "We're bringing her in."</p><p>A loud BANG rang out through the forest clearing, spraying bullets at the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.  Daisy shoved Deke down and stood in front of him.</p><p>"No, you're not."  General Hale had an assault rifle leveled at them.  "You're going to let my daughter go, and the kid is coming with me."</p><p>"Why would I let that happen?"  Daisys bleeding hand was raised, ready to quake.</p><p>Deke sat up in the snow and blinked.  His chest was warm, and he felt lightheaded.</p><p>"Because I can give him medical attention."  Hale said dangerously.</p><p>Daisy glanced back at the kids behind her.  The boy was wide eyed and bleeding, staining the clean snow red.</p><p>"Can you run?"  She asked him quietly.  Deke nodded and shakily got to his feet, breathing heavily all the while.  He blinked rapidly and pressed his hand into the bullet wound.  Daisy looked at him firmly.  "Get May."</p><p>"Don't even think about it."  Hale said.  "You're surrounded."</p><p>Deke looked around.  There were robots surrounding them, all pointing guns.  He didn't know how they could get out of this.  His mind worked for a means of escape.</p><p>He looked back at Hales daughter, and he found it.</p><p>"Daisy," Deke muttered, trying not to bleed too much, "I'm going to do something really stupid."</p><p>"That's not comforting."  Daisy muttered back, not taking her eyes off Hale.</p><p>"Get out."  He hissed to her.  "You can come back and get me, but I can't keep up."</p><p>"Deke."  Daisy said dangerously.</p><p>Deke grabbed the belt buckle off of the girl and shoved it into Daisys chest.  He turned it on and shoved her in the direction of the Zephyr.  "Go!"</p><p>The robots all started firing at Daisy as soon as her feet left the ground.  She quaked them away, the force of the quake propelling her back toward the plane.  Deke tried to run after her, but the blood loss made his vision go white for a second.</p><p>When his vision cleared, Daisy was gone and Hale was standing over him, glaring and pointing her gun.  She raised the barrel and placed her finger on the trigger.</p><p>"Wait."  The girl Dekes age called out, stepping in front of her mother.  "We can use him."</p><p>Hale hesitated.  That got her attention.  "Use him how?"</p><p>Hales daughter grabbed Dekes arm and dragged him up, twisted him around, and held her chakram to his neck.  "That thing Daisy Johnson used to get away, he made it.  It's a gravitonium device."  She explained.  "He knows how to use it."  She held the blade closer to his neck.  "He's an expert."</p><p>Hale lowered her gun.  Deke passed out.</p><p>- - - </p><p>When he woke up, Deke was in an unfamiliar place.  That wasn't a good thing.  </p><p>He struggled to sit up.  Half his chest was bandaged, and his skin looked paler than usual.  Those were slightly worse things.  </p><p>On the floor next to him was a shirt, a sling, and a bloodstained brown leather jacket.  His jacket.  Beyond that, the door was open.  Deke didn't know if that was a bad thing, but he would assume it was.</p><p>He stood up on shaking legs.  He felt dead on his feet.  That probably wasn't far off, looking at all the bandages wrapping his chest and shoulder.  </p><p>Deke didn't know how things usually worked in what he assumed to be Hales base, but he didn't want to be shirtless and cold for the rest of his time there.  So he bent down and picked the clothes off the floor, jaw clenched in pain the whole time.</p><p>The shirt was the hardest part.  Raising his left arm high enough to slip it through the fabric had beads of sweat running down the back of his neck.  He closed his eyes and breathed heavily when the hem was finally pulled down to his waist.  That took too long.</p><p>He put the sling on without as much trouble, thank the stars.  With a shirt on and his injury sorted out for the moment, his mind shifted to getting back to the Lighthouse.</p><p>Deke scoffed out a laugh.  He wanted to get back to the Lighthouse when the only thing he wanted for seventeen years was to get as far away from it as he could.  Now, all he could think about was getting back to Fitz-Simmons.</p><p>Fitz-Simmons.  </p><p>He froze closed his eyes.  Fitz-Simmons.  His family.  His grandparents.  The grandparents he promised not to hurt himself to.  They barely knew him, but they were overprotective.  If he survived Hydra, they would kill him.</p><p>Better not keep them waiting.  Deke opened his eyes and resumed what he had been doing previously.  He threw his jacket onto the cot and started searching through the pockets, searching for--</p><p>"Looking for this?"</p><p>Deke looked up.  General Hale was standing in the doorway to the cell like room, holding an old multi took with the number 17 scratched into the side.</p><p>"You lost a lot of blood."  She continued, taking a few steps toward him and putting the took into her pocket.  "You're lucky to be alive."</p><p>Deke swallowed.  "People have been telling me that my whole life."  He stood up straight.</p><p>Hale sneered.  "There's a few things I don't understand about you."  She placed her hands on her hips.  "You're a DNA match to Leopold Fitz and Jemma Simmons, and you know how to manipulate gravitonium.  But you're the same age as my daughter, and the first record of you even existing only showed up a few weeks ago."  </p><p>"I don't know what to tell you."  Deke shrugged his uninjured shoulder.  "The answers aren't really satisfying."</p><p>"Phil Coulson mentioned a future," Hale leaned forward slightly, "where the world was broken apart."</p><p>Deke kept his face stoic as her eyes bored into his.  The rest of the team always said he never knew when to shut up, but they were wrong.  He knew that this was no place for snide comments.</p><p>"Is that where you came from?"  Asked Hale.  "You met your parents and they brought you back to the past with you?"</p><p>She was close, Deke would give her that.  But he didn't answer, just kept his mouth shut.</p><p>Hale hummed.  "Fine.  Where you came from doesn't matter.  It's what you're going to do for me that does."</p><p>Those words never meant anything good.  Kasius used to say things like that.</p><p>Hale gestured to the door.  "There are people you need to meet."</p><p>Deke didn't like those words either, but there wasn't a way out of his current situation.  So he followed her out.  He could escape later (play the long game.  Remember those time?  Before S.H.I.E.L.D?)</p><p>Hale lead him through what looked to be an underground bunker.  Deke really didn't like that.  He had just gotten out of his first underground bunker, he didn't want to die in another one.</p><p>No, he told himself.  I'm not going to die in here.  Stay alive out of spite, it's what you always do.</p><p>The walls were a dull green, so it was more lively than the Lighthouse.  Deke would give Hydra that.  But Hydra had better intimidation tactics.</p><p>There were robots lining the halls, and a severe looking woman had her hand on a holster.  Deke gave her a friendly smile.  Hydra might have good intimidation tactics, but they were nothing compared to the Kree.</p><p>Hale glanced behind her.  "You aren't acting how a kid in a secret government base would usually act."</p><p>"There's a standard?"  Deke gave her an unimpressed look.  "Do you run a daycare?"</p><p>Hales stare turned cold.  "Do your friends at S.H.I.E.L.D. think you're funny?"</p><p>Deke gave her the smile he always gave Kasius, the one full of teeth and very obviously false adoration.  "They think I'm hilarious."</p><p>Hale was silent for a moment before going on.  "There's test for everyone we bring here.  It's to gauge what we're going to be working with."</p><p>"How did I do?"  Deke asked, genuinely curious.</p><p>Hale opened a door and held it for Deke to walk through.  "You didn't even start."</p><p>Deke congratulated himself as he entered this new room.  It was a lab with an observation window.  The pair was standing behind the window, and there was a clear box full of gravitonium in the actual lab.</p><p>"There's a machine built to infuse any material with a human subjects biology."  Hale told him.  She pointed to the gravitonium.  "You're going to tell me everything you know about that stuff so it doesn't kill the subject."</p><p>Deke stared at the liquid metal.  "You want to . . . pump someone full of gravitonium."  He scoffed and shook his head.  "No."</p><p>"No?"  Hales voice was dangerous.  Deke didn't care what consequence was in store for him.</p><p>"No."  He repeated.  "Whoever you put that stuff in is called the Destroyer of Worlds for a reason."</p><p>They stared each other down for another tense moment. </p><p>"Fine."  Hale grabbed the front of his shirt and started dragging him back down the hallway.  "If you won't tell me willingly, I'll just use other means."</p><p>Deke kept up, only slightly scared.  The severe looking woman he saw earlier started following.  Nothing Hydra could do to him would be worse than the Kree, he told himself.</p><p>Hale shoved him into a room, empty save for a single chair and a large screen.  She made him sit down.</p><p>"You will comply."  She ripped the sling off his arm while the other woman bound his wrists to the arms of the chair.  "Compliance will be rewarded."</p><p>Deke did not like the sound of that.  He struggled against the the restraints.</p><p>The screen in front of him flickered on, and he closed his eyes and ducked his head away from the bright lights that started flashing.  Someone grabbed him by his hair and pulled his head up and held it there while something was slid across his forehead to keep his head facing forward.</p><p>Deke was considerably more scared.</p><p>"What the Hell is this?"  Deke said through gritted teeth.  </p><p>"Take a deep breath."  The dark haired woman forced his eyes open and taped them.  He was now staring at the hypnotic and sickly bright colors on the screen.  "Calm your mind."</p><p>"What's best is to comply.  Compliance will be rewarded."  Hale repeated, emphasizing each word.  "Tell me when he breaks.  It shouldn't take long."  </p><p>Deke would have been offended if he wasn't fearing for his life.  </p><p>Don't break.  He told himself.  S.H.I.E.L.D. will find me. </p><p>He could see it happening.  May and Daisy breaking down the doors, arresting every human and destroying every robot.  Yo-Yo zipping around, exacting revenge on whoever took her arms.  Mack leading the charge with his really cool shotgun-axe.</p><p>Deke tried to blink, but to no avail.  His eyes were dry and straining against the psychedelic color patterns.  Whatever torture this was supposed to be, he didn't understand.  But it was working.</p><p>His eyes unfocused after a while, he didn't know how long it was.  He stopped struggling shortly after that, the lack of blood making him more fatigued than it should have.</p><p>The woman in the room pressed her hand against the bullet wound in Dekes shoulder.  His breath hitched and he tried to flinch away, but that only served to put him in even more pain.</p><p>"Are you ready to comply?"  The woman asked. </p><p>Deke didn't know the answer to that question.  He guessed the answer was no, seeing how he still didn't want to tell them anything about gravitonium.  He kept his mouth shut, just to be safe.</p><p>The continuous lights and the low buzzing that came with them put a tight feeling in his chest.  He struggled to breathe steadily after another few minutes.</p><p>He didn't know how long he was sitting there; with a splitting headache, breathing unsteadily, unfocused eyes.  It felt like forever.  </p><p>Deke couldn't see, but he heard a door open and close behind him.  He was either alone, or there was one more person in the room.  He tried to move his right hand, just to see if he could and to see if he was really alone.</p><p>Nobody told him to stop.  Nobody hit him.  There was no sound.  So Deke twisted his wrist around and tried to wriggle it through the plastic zip tie. </p><p>He couldn't tear his eyes away from the screen, but he didn't let that stop him.  He tried to turn his head away and jerked his arm back.  The plastic dug into his wrist, no doubt leaving a red mark.  He kept at it, struggling against the bonds for as long as he could.</p><p>The door behind him opened and Deke froze.  The new person in the room wasn't the woman from earlier, it was a guy.  He was breathing loudly, and he didn't speak.</p><p>The blade of a knife was slid along the arm of the chair and the zip tie broke seconds later.  </p><p>In an instant, Deke brought his freed hand up to his face and tore off the tape.  He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed the back of his hand into his eye socket with a soft groan.  The thing keeping his head straight was removed, and he doubled over in the chair, resting his elbow on his knee and ducking his head.  The zip tie on his other hand was cut.</p><p>"Thank you."  Deke said quietly.  He shook his head and blinked multiple times to make his eyes feel normal again.  He looked up at his liberator.</p><p>He was Dekes age, had blond hair, and was holding a gun in one hand, Dekes multi took in the other.  "I'm Alex."  He leveled the gun at the teenager from the future.  "You're coming with me."</p><p>Deke didn't know if this was any better than the lights, but at least he could blink.  He shakily stood up, keeping his hands still and his eyes on the gun.  Alex let Deke shrug his jacket on before shoving him out of the room.</p><p>Alex kept Deke in front of him, one hand on in uninjured shoulder and the other pointing the gun to the back of his head.  They walked through the winding hallways until they made it to the lab.</p><p>Deke was shoved to the side before Alex fired off three shots, killing three different scientists. </p><p>He pointed his gun at the gravitonium box, and then to the last man left standing.  "Get that ready for transport.  Now."</p><p>Deke looked back at the sound of footsteps.  It was the girl his age, dressed in the same combat suit from the frozen forest.</p><p>"How'd it go?"  Alex asked without looking at her.</p><p>"We're free and clear."  She said with a smile.  She turned to Deke, chakram in hand.  "You're going to help us."</p><p>The two with weapons ushered Deke down a few hallways and into a hanger, and then into a jet.  Alex sat in the pilots seat and started flipping switches.  </p><p>The girl put her hand on Dekes shoulder, right above the bullet wound, and pushed him down into a seat.  "I don't think we've been properly introduced."  Her face was inches from his.  "My name's Ruby."</p><p>He was silent for a moment.  "Deke."  He finally said.</p><p>Ruby smiled.  "So it's true?"  She stood up straight.  "You're from the future?"</p><p>Deke hesitantly nodded.  He saw no reason to lie to them, as long as they didn't ask about gravitonium.</p><p>"What's it like?"  She sat down on the opposite side of the plane and leaned forward.  </p><p>Deke shook his head and pointed to the gravitonium.  "Whoever you put that stuff in broke the planet apart."  He told her.  "The remnants of humanity were living in a bunker that was floating around in space."</p><p>Ruby stared at him, as if trying to catch him lying.  Even Alex glanced back from piloting the plane.  </p><p>Ruby laughed.  "Wow."  She moved her arm, and a chakram embedded itself in the metal next to Dekes head.  He did his best not to flinch.  "You're really good at telling stories."</p><p>"Neither of you scare me."  Deke said, against his better judgement.  He looked straight into Rubys eyes as he raised his hand to the chakram inches from his neck.  He tossed it to the floor.  "Stop trying to intimidate me."</p><p>She mockingly smiled.  "That's not intimidation, that was just fun."  She picked up the circular blade.  "Tell me another story."</p><p>Deke leaned forward in his seat.  "About the future?"  She nodded.  "The bunker we were living in was being ruled by a Kree psychopath who wanted to breed Inhumans for profit."</p><p>Ruby raised an eyebrow.  "Really?"  She looked like she was finally believing them.  "You've met the Kree?"</p><p>Deke nodded.  "Yeah, I've hid a few of their bodies, been stabbed by one, helped kill a few."</p><p>Both of Rubys eyebrows shot up.  The two stared at each other while Alex flew in silence.  It was a challenge of wills.</p><p>Alex spoke up first.  "We'll be there in a few minutes."  The plane seemed to be flying faster.</p><p>Ruby stood up, chakram in hand.  She leaned over Deke and held the blade to his neck, almost breaking the skin.  "You're going to listen to me."  She told in a deadly whisper.  "And you're going to do everything I tell you.  Unless you want me to take your arms, like I took your friends."</p><p>Deke didn't move his eyes from hers.  He was scared, he would admit that.  But he wouldn't admit it to her.  He would put his years of mastering a poker face to use by making Ruby believe she didn't scare him.</p><p>"When we get there," Ruby continued, "you're going to help me.  If you help me, I might let you live to see if your apocalypse still happens."</p><p>Deke didn't move.  He waited for the blade to move away from his neck.  When she finally did, he breathed easier.  "We'll all die anyway if it does."  </p><p>Ruby sat back down on the other side of the plane.  "Then you just have bad luck."  She held the chakram casually, to let her hostage know not to try anything.</p><p>Deke scoffed.  "It's better to be dead than to live under the Kree."</p><p>"Why are you so cynical?"  Ruby asked with a roll of her eyes.  "What happens in the future to make you like this?"</p><p>Deke didn't answer right away.  He thought about that question, and weather he should answer at all.  After maybe a minute, he said, "Stick around for seventy years and find  out."</p><p>Ruby stared at him.  "Seventy years?"</p><p>Deke nodded once, staring at nothing.  "They told me it was the year 2091."  He sighed.</p><p>"You didn't know the year?"  Alex asked from the cockpit.</p><p>"The only way we kept time was the stars."  Deke told them.  "If something important happened, people looked at the stars and that was how they knew the date."  At Rubys slightly shocked expression, he gave her the same smile he gave her mother earlier.</p><p>The plane started descending.  Deke and Ruby both looked to Alex as he landed.  </p><p>"Something's wrong."  Alex spoke up.  Ruby was up in an instant and by his side, looking at the same thing he was.  "The mechs are down and Ivanov's gone."</p><p>"Someone's here."  Ruby said quietly.  </p><p>Deke perked up.  S.H.I.E.L.D. could already be here.  </p><p>Ruby turned around.  "Come on, Deke."  He didn't the way she said his name.  "Time to go."</p><p>They pointed a gun at his head, as if they weren't his only way out of this, and made him push the box of gravitonium out in front of them.  The three of them started walking, through the doors of a building and into an elevator.  The silence was excruciating as the small box climbed two floors.</p><p>Ruby walked out first on the floor they were supposed to be on, followed by Deke, then Alex, who was still pointing a gun.  There were voices coming from the room they were heading towards.</p><p>Dekes heart jumped in his chest, and a jolt of pain shot through his bullet wound.  He knew those voices.</p><p>". . . my doubts."  A voice with a Scottish accent said.  "Maybe your hopeful nature's rubbing off on me."</p><p>Ruby smiled and ran ahead.  She reeled her arm back and threw the chakram.  "Aww, how cute!"  She said.</p><p>Alex grabbed Deke by the collar and dragged him over to the large door.  Inside, Fitz and Simmons stood on either side of an overturned table, chakram embedded deep into the metal.</p><p>"Well, looks like you two have made quite the mess."  Ruby stepped farther into the room.  Alex followed, raising his gun to train it on the two scientists.  </p><p>"Not the first time."  Alex stepped in front of her and let go of Deke.  "They were there when S.H.I.E.L.D. tortured me."  He walked over to something that looked like a coffin.</p><p>Fitz and Simmons stared at their grandson.  He stared back.</p><p>"Don't even think about it." Ruby closed her fist around the collar of Dekes jacket when he took a step forward.  She pulled him down to her eye level.  "I can make something much worse than a bullet wound."</p><p>"Bullet--?"  Jemmas eyebrows shot up in surprise.</p><p>"They destroyed a component for the infuser."  Alex cut through the conversation.  "It's useless."  He raised his gun again.  "We can't transfer the gravitonium until it's repaired."</p><p>Ruby sighed.  She let go of Deke and walked over to retrieve her chakram.  She held it to Jemmas neck.  "Fix it."  Fitz stepped forward, but Deke ran up and held him back.  "Or bleed out."</p><p>"Fitz, we can't let it happen again."  Jemma whispered.</p><p>Fitz gripped Dekes arm to keep from running forward.  "I don't think we have a choice."</p><p>Ruby smiled.</p><p>"We never did."</p><p>"Good."  Ruby pushed Jemma away held her chakram out threateningly.  "Tie her and Deke up."  She told Alex without looking at him.  She then leveled her gaze at Fitz.  "Fix the component."</p><p>"Why is he here?"  Fitz held tighter to his grandsons arm.  </p><p>"Well," Ruby looked up at the ceiling like she was thinking, "my mom shot him, we fixed him, and now he's here to help with the gravitonium."  She grabbed Dekes arm and wrenched him away from Fitz.  "He's an expert, you know.  He wears it on his belt, right?"  Deke hissed as her fingers dug into his wound.  "Isn't this a nice family reunion?"</p><p>Deke really hated the feeling of zip ties tightening around his wrists.  It reminded him of his metric, which had barely been removed before he got kidnapped.  And more recently, it reminded him of the bright colorful lights and not being able to blink.</p><p>"Are you okay?"  Jemma whispered as Fitz started working on something.  </p><p>Deke nodded and schooled his breathing.  "I'm fine."</p><p>"Where were you shot?"  Jemma asked.</p><p>Deke tried to roll his shoulder and winced.  "Left shoulder."  He muttered back.  "Hale said I lost a lot of blood."  He turned his head to look at her.  "Are you okay?"</p><p>She nodded shakily.  "We're both fine."  She glanced to Deke.  "We thought we could destroy the machine before Hale tried to use it."</p><p>Deke nodded.  "How did you get Fitz out of his cell?"  He asked.  "Did Daisy and Coulson sign off on it?"</p><p>Jemma didn't answer.  She averted her eyes.</p><p>"You broke him out?"  Deke hissed with wide eyes.  "Does the rest of the team even know where we are right now?"</p><p>"I don't think you have a right to criticize us for that."  Jemma shot back.  "The first time I met you, you were breaking us out of a cell."</p><p>A chakram whizzed between the two and sunk into the wall behind them.  "What are we talking about?"  Ruby walked between them to retrieve her blade.</p><p>Neither Jemma nor Deke answered.  Ruby pouted and crossed her arms.</p><p>"Tell me another story, Deke."  Ruby raised the circular blade close to his head.  "How did you get here?"</p><p>Deke kept his eyes on hers.  He was going to say something very stupid.  "A plane."</p><p>Ruby stepped back and turned her back to him.  Jemma looked at him like he was crazy.  After everything that's happened in the last day, he probably was.</p><p>The next thing Deke knew, his own multi tool was being pressed against his bullet wound.  Ruby had flicked the blade out and was just short of stabbing him. </p><p>"Don't--" Fitz turned away from his soldering tools.</p><p>"Stay where you are."  Alex pulled the hammer back on his gun and pointed it toward Fitz.</p><p>"Stop!"  Jemma struggled against her restraints.  "Stop it!"</p><p>"Shut up."  Ruby didn't look away from Deke.  She pushed the blade forward slightly, and he felt it pierce the bandage.  He clenched his jaw. </p><p>"He had to power up the time machine for us to get back."  Jemma said, a forced calm on her strained voice.  "When he turned it on, he got taken, too."</p><p>Ruby still kept her eyes on Deke.  He nodded minutely.  She pushed the blade ever so slightly farther into his wound for a few more seconds before drawing away.</p><p>"Back to work."  Ruby said and turned back to Fitz.</p><p>Fitz met Dekes eyes, then Jemmas, then reluctantly turned back to the work table.</p><p>"I'm fine."  Deke muttered before Jemma could even ask the question.  He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing.  "I'm fine."  He repeated, quieter, more to convince himself than his grandmother.</p><p>The room was quiet for a while, aside from the sounds of the tools Fitz was using and the hushed conversations between Ruby and Alex before Alex walked out to check the perimeter.  It was so tense.  </p><p>After several minutes, Ruby stood twenty feet from Deke and Jemma.  "Let's see how good my aim is."  She brought her chakram back.</p><p>Deke saw Fitz flinch out of the corner of his eye.  He wanted to call out, say they were fine, but he had a feeling Ruby didn't want to hear his voice anymore.  The sharp blade was sticking out of the metal sheet, inches from his arm.  Ruby walked over, grabbed the chakram, and walked to the other side of the room to throw again.  That process continued for what felt like hours.</p><p>THUNK!  </p><p>Fitz threw his tool down.  "Stop it!"</p><p>"Aww."  Rubys lips twisted into another smile as she grabbed the chakram again.  "But I'm enjoying myself."  Fitz leaned braced his hands on the table in front of him and leaned forward.  "And it does seem to keep you motivated."</p><p>Jemma gripped the arm of the chair she was bound to as the chakram landed very close to her face.</p><p>"Okay.  Let her go."  Fitz turned around.  "You want this machine fixed, I need her help."  He stepped toward them, looking desperate.  "Please.  We're a team."</p><p>Ruby stared the engineer down for a moment before pulling out a knife.  She cut the zip ties binding Jemma to her chair.  "The adults can work over there."  She said, gesturing to the table Fitz was working at.  Then, she grabbed Dekes jaw to make him look at her.  "Us kids will stay here."</p><p>Jemma ran to her husband.  They started whispering to each other, holding each other.  </p><p>Ruby stepped away from Deke.  "You guys is adorable.  I ship it."  Deke didn't know what that meant, but he didn't really care.  "I really do."</p><p>"Do you have any idea of the consequences of what you're trying to do?"  Jemma asked.  "We've seen where this leads."</p><p>"Your little trip to the future?"  Ruby pursed her lips.  "Coulson filled me in."</p><p>"Then you'll know that you destroy everything," Jemma spread her hands, "the whole world."</p><p>"See, I thought your pal Daisy did all of that."  Ruby sat down the chair Jemma was just tied to and draped herself over Deke.  "Isn't that right, Deke?"</p><p>Fitz turned around from the work table.  "Everyone that you care about will die."  He warned her.</p><p>Ruby sat up.  "Not a long list."</p><p>"And it's getting shorter."  Alex stormed in.  "I found Anton, what's left of him . . ."  He and Ruby walked to the other side of the room.</p><p>Deke let out a breath he had been holding once Ruby was away from him.  He tilted his head back and closed his eyes while the two couples whispered.  It was times like these, he almost wished he had stayed in the future.</p><p>"Hey!"  Ruby yelled over to Fitz-Simmons.  "Pick up the pace, or I start removing body parts."  She pointed her chakram at the one person still tied up.  "Starting with Deke."</p><p>The almost was very small.</p><p>"We're going."  Jemma said quickly, sparing one last glance at her grandson before starting the work.</p><p>Fitz and Jemma were working, Ruby and Alex were preparing the coffin like machine, and Deke was thinking.  If he didn't know any better, he would expect to get grey hairs before his eighteenth birthday.  </p><p>Sometime after maybe fifteen minutes, Ruby started her target practice again.  All three Fitz-Simmons' flinched each time the blade landed.  </p><p>After what felt like hours, Fitz and Jemma finally connected the component they were building to the machine.  </p><p>Ruby grabbed Jemma, Alex leveled his gun at Fitz to keep him from doing anything.</p><p>"You two are taking a while."  Ruby held Jemma by the jaw.  "Is this above your grade level?"</p><p>"No, no, no."  Alex shook his head.  "They're S.H.I.E.L.D.s best and brightest.  There's nothing they can't do . . ." he looked back at Fitz. ". . . if motivated."</p><p>"Torturing us isn't going to make us work any faster."  Jemma had one hand raised in surrender and the other trying to pry Rubys away from her neck.</p><p>"You didn't seem to mind torture the last time we met."  Alex glared.  "Electrocuting me."  He glanced down at her hand.  "You two didn't have wedding rings, then, either."  </p><p>Deke stiffened in his chair.  He picked those rings out.</p><p>"Please."  Jemmas voice never wavered.  "We're doing what you asked."</p><p>"Move."  Alex lowered his gun and shoved Fitz out of his way.  </p><p>Fitz ran to Dekes side.  "How are you feeling?"  </p><p>"You're asking me?"  Deke shook his head in disbelief.</p><p>"The infuser's revers."  Alex stood up and looked at Ruby.  "They're going to have to start over."</p><p>"You know, I only really need one of you."  Rubys face contorted into a snarl.  "Three is starting to feel redundant."</p><p>"Hey, we are working with very limited resources on a very old machine."  Fitz stepped forward, in front of Deke.  </p><p>Ruby let go of Jemma and swung her fist at Fitz.  </p><p>"Fitz!"  Jemma and Deke yelled at the same time.  They both struggling to get out of their restraints; Alexs arm, in Jemmas case, and plastic zip ties, in Dekes.<br/>Ruby stood over Fitz and slammed her fist into his face multiple times, his family yelling at her to stop all the while.</p><p>"Stop it!"  Jemma shouted over everything.  "Leave him alone!  We'll fix it!"</p><p>Ruby stopped.  Jemma ran to Fitz.</p><p>"Hey."  Ruby pulled her chakram off her back.  "Eyes up.  Look at me."  Both scientists looked up hesitantly.  "Next time," she held up the chakram and tilted her head in Dekes direction, "it's him.  And I won't use my fists."</p><p>Deke did not like the sound of that, but at least Jemma and Fitz were fine at the moment.  They started working.</p><p>"And that's a warning to you, too."  Ruby crouched in front of Deke.  "If you try anything at all . . ." she glanced back at the scientists.  "You don't need two grandparents."</p><p>So Fitz and Jemma got to work again.  Alex left the room again at some point, but Deke wasn't paying attention.  He was lost in his own thoughts.</p><p>He couldn't let them have the gravitonium.  He had to do something, but he couldn't let Fitz and Jemma get hurt because of him.  Deke had no idea what to do.</p><p>And he was running out of time, because his grandparents were connecting the infuser to the component they just built.</p><p>"A plane just landed."  Alex entered the room again.</p><p>Ruby shook out of her pensive thoughts.  "My mother?"</p><p>"S.H.I.E.L.D."</p><p>Deke looked to Fitz-Simmons hopefully.</p><p>Alex cocked his gun.  "I sent the mechs to engage.  That'll buy us a little time."</p><p>Ruby looked to Jemma and Fitz, who were still working.  "Alright, where should I start?"  She readied her chakram.  "An arm?  Maybe a leg?"</p><p>"No, don't, don't."  Fitz stood up.  "We're finished, okay?"</p><p>Alex knelt down to inspect the machine and pressed a few buttons.  The machine whirred to life, and he smiled.  "It's ready."</p><p>"Yes."  Ruby breathed out.  She was at Dekes side in second and cutting his restraints.  She pulled him over to the box of gravitonium.</p><p>"Transfer the gravitonium to the chamber."  Alex told him.  Deke glanced over at his grandparents.</p><p>"Now!"  Ruby snapped, and Deke got to work.  </p><p>He took the plastic tube from Alex and connected the chamber to the containment box of gravitonium.</p><p>"What?"  Rubys voice said, harsh and accusing behind Dekes back.</p><p>"Hey, we did as you asked."  Fitz answered.  "We fixed the chamber."</p><p>"But?"  Ruby prompted.</p><p>Jemma sighed, "In our experience, gravitonium is not easy to manipulate."  Deke felt her eyes on the back of his head.  "I don't think you can move it into the machine."</p><p>There was a tense moment of silence, and Deke started working faster.  Silence meant Ruby probably wasn't happy.</p><p>"You can't do this."  Fitzs voice sounded desperate.</p><p>"I'm done having people tell me what I can do."  Rubys voice was filled with venom.</p><p>Deke shot to his feet.  "Stop!"  He pulled a lever on the chamber.  "I did it, leave them alone."</p><p>Ruby whirled around and stared at the liquid metal running through the small hose.  Her lips curled into a smile.  She turned back to Fitz and Simmons, "You were saying?"</p><p>Deke stepped out of her way and ran to his family.  They embraced him as soon as he was close enough.  His legs were still shaking from being tied up for as long as he was.</p><p>"Are you okay?"  Jemma asked, looking his face over, taking in every cut and bruise that had shown up since he left the Lighthouse for Coulsons rescue mission.</p><p>"How did you do that?"  Fitz was pointing to the gravitonium, still being pulled through the tube.</p><p>"I don't know."  Deke didn't know which question he was answering, the words would fit for both.  The infuser started hissing.  "Do you think we just doomed the world?"</p><p>The three stared at the chamber as it powered up.  "I don't know."  Fitz said back.  </p><p>Ruby started screaming.  "Get me out!"  </p><p>"Ruby!"  Alex shouted back, not doing anything to get her out.  He pulled his gun and pointed it on the family.  "What did you do?!  You're killing her!"</p><p>"No, this isn't us!"  Jemma raised her hands.  "We tried to warn you!"<br/>"You sabotaged the chamber!"  Alex stepped forward and raised the gun.</p><p>"No, it's not the chamber!"  A new voice cut in.  It was Hale, Rubys mother.  Followed by Daisy and May.  "Get her out of there!"  They seemed to be on the same team now, Deke observed as Fitz stumbled over to turn off the machine.  "Are we too late?"</p><p>"I don't know."  Fitz said again.  "She only took in eight percent of the gravitonium."</p><p>The chamber hissed and opened up, revealing Ruby.  She looked exactly the same as when she entered.  There was a tense silence before she opened her eyes.  When she started floating out, Fitz and Jemma pushed Deke behind them and stood in front of him as they backed away.</p><p>Ruby landed on the floor in the exact way Deke would with his belt buckle.  When she reached out to touch Alexs face, his head distorted and he fell to the ground, dead.  </p><p>Ruby started crying.  She stood up and looked around the room desperately.  "I didn't mean to!"  She was sobbing with tears rolling down her face, pulling at her hair and hitting her hands against her head.  Everyone else was too scared to say anything back.  "Get it out of me!  Please make them stop!"</p><p>"Make--" Fitz said bravely.  "Make who stop?"</p><p>"All of them!"  Ruby yelled back.  "Just please-- please put me back in the machine!"  She tapped her temple with her fingers.  "Get it out of me!"<br/>"We can't."  Jemma said quietly.  "It only works one way."<br/>Rubys expression hardened.  "You lie."  Her hands dropped to her sides.  "You always do this!"  </p><p>Deke felt his feet leave the floor.  The sensation of weightlessness, gravity pulling him against a wall that shouldn't have a gravitational pull, was very familiar.  But this time, feeling his back slam against the hard, solid wall, feeling his lungs struggle to take in air as the gravity pulling him against the wall increased, that was completely new and not at all welcomed.  He saw Jemma and Fitz on either side of him, being thrown against the wall as well.  He couldn't hear anything, just his own blood rushing through his ears.</p><p>As suddenly as it had come, the unnatural gravity was gone.  Deke hit the floor and fell, gasping for breath and grunting with pain.  He felt a pair of hands on his shoulders, trying to pull him up.  He let them.</p><p>When his vision stopped swimming, Deke was aware of Jemma and Fitzs arms around him, helping him stand and walk.  May gestured for them to come to her while Ruby was talking to her mother.</p><p>"Come on, we're going back to the Zephyr."  May told them when the four were out into the hallway.  "Hale told us you were alright, but I think you should get checked out again back at the Lighthouse, Deke."  She looked the two adults up and down.  "All of you should get checked out by a doctor that isn't Simmons."</p><p>Yo-Yo appeared at the other end of the hallway, holding one of her new arms.</p><p>"Melinda."  Yo-Yo met them looked at the four of them.  "What happened?  Did someone go in?"</p><p>"It's being handled."  May said and stepped past her.  "We need to get to the Zephyr."</p><p>"Handled by whom?"  Elena did not move.  She stared at the four people in front of her as she realized.  "Daisy."</p><p>Elena started off toward the room with the chamber.  May took a step after her, then she stopped and looked back at Fitz, Jemma, and Deke.</p><p>"Go."  Jemma nodded.</p><p>"We'll be fine."  Deke tried to reassure, but he winced when his arm moved in just the wrong way.</p><p>As may started running off to where they just left, the three FitzSimmons' started off in the other direction, toward the buildings exit and then toward the Zephyr.  There were multiple S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the plane, and they immediately started ushering the three into the conference room next to the cockpit where they could actually rest.</p><p>Deke slid his back down the wall and sighed heavily when he hit the floor.</p><p>"Don't you want a chair?"  Fitz fell across the small couch and closed his eyes.</p><p>Deke shook his head.  "No, I'm fine right here."  He swallowed roughly.</p><p>"I'm going to order food when we get back."  Jemma declared and slumped over in a chair.  "What do you guys want?"</p><p>Fitz groaned.  "I don't care, as long as it isn't dried rations from the Lighthouses storage."</p><p>"I'd eat anything right now."  Deke confessed, running a hand down his face.  His stomach grumbled as evidence.</p><p>Fitz sat up slowly.  "Deke, when was the last time you ate?"</p><p>Deke blew out a breath as thought.  "Before I left and got shot."</p><p>"That was . . ." Jemma rubbed her eyes, "a full day ago.  Didn't they feed you at the Hydra base?"</p><p>"No," Deke shook his head, "I woke up after the surgery and then they tied me to a chair.  It was really weird; she kept saying something about compliance will be rewarded."</p><p>There was a tense moment of silence, and Deke got the impression that he probably shouldn't have told them.  He couldn't bring himself to care, though.  He was just so tired.</p><p>"I'm fine, though."  He added as an afterthought.  "Spite is my main motivator."  He blinked a few times.  "I just did whatever Hale didn't want me to do."</p><p>Fitz laughed shortly.  "Yeah, that sounds like you."</p><p>"Be nice, Fitz."  Jemma shot him a tired smile.</p><p>Deke laughed and shrugged off his jacket.  He folded it into a square and laid down on the floor, placing his jacket under his head.  He sighed contently as his aching muscles relaxed.  "I'm going to sleep."</p><p>"Amen."  Jemma crawled onto the couch with Fitz.</p><p>"Let's order a pizza."  Fitz said into his wife's hair.  "A large pizza with bread sticks."</p><p>"That sounds amazing."  Deke smiled.</p><p>He closed his eyes and relished in the quiet, the calm.  There would be long conversations and hours spent in the med bay back at the Lighthouse, but that was later.</p><p>Now, they were safe.</p>
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